Together
by MiniKirby123
Summary: Draco takes his daughter to a very special place for her birthday... To see her mother. (Implied Dramione)


The bus slowed to a halt. It was a cloudy, winter afternoon, with most people tucked away at home, snuggled under a blanket sipping hot chocolate. However, there were two or three people out strolling the streets, including a tall, blonde haired man holding a bouquet of tulips in one hand, and a young, frizzy haired girl who was holding tightly onto his other. The man smiled down at the girl, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. This man was none other than the Draco Malfoy, and the young girl was his daughter, Hermione.

The doors squeaked open slowly, and Draco helped the young girl onto the bus with a smile and an unheard sigh. She smiled back at him, seemingly oblivious to his feelings, hers brighter and happier, the dimples on her cheeks showing as she waited for him to buy tickets for them both. Bounding further down the aisle, she swung happily into a seat, earning a small chuckle from her father who sat next to her at a much slower and less energetic pace. Swinging her legs back and forth, Hermione felt the bus start, and looked up at her father with adoring eyes.

"Daddy, where are we going today?" she asked him, tilting her head and blinking her wide, blue eyes. Silence met her question, and she was about to ask it again when Draco turned his head to her, giving her unruly locks a gentle pat. This simple action caused his heart to squeeze uncomfortably, and he tried to keep his voice form wavering when he spoke.

"Somewhere very, very special, honey." he responded, smiling to try and seem happy for his daughter on her birthday. However, even the young girl could see that he was not happy.

"Daddy! Smile for me properly!" she exclaimed, folding her arms like a toddler and pouting childishly. It was almost like she was the mother, admonishing Draco instead of the other way around. Draco tried again, but to no avail. The young girl was still annoyed, and she lifted her head so her eyes bored straight into his. Draco started, realising how similar she looked to… His heart clenched uncomfortably again.

"No! Daddy! Why doesn't your smile reach your eyes?" she demanded, huffing exasperatedly before speaking again. "Like this!" she said, before smiling. Her smile was one untarnished by the difficulties of the world, and Draco marvelled at how innocent she was. She was beautiful. Just like her mother.

"I'm sorry honey, but maybe later." He said, eyes downcast and sombre. Hermione just took this as an apology, and her previous anger was wiped off her face in a moment as she returned to staring out the window, her legs swinging back and forth as the tapped a rhythm out on the plastic backing of the seat in front of her.

Draco just spent his time watching her, staring out the window, and trying to keep his mind off their destination. He often found himself rubbing his fingers along the velvet petals of the orange, red and yellow tulips clutched tightly in his hand, trying to remind himself not to snap the stems as his knuckles turned white.

All too soon for Draco, yet seemingly far too long for his impatient young daughter, they had arrived at their destination. Stepping off the bus, Draco turned around and thanked the driver, Hermione mirroring this action with much more eagerness then her father. Hopping off and landing with a splash in the puddle at her feet, she looked up and glanced around her, a look of confusion crossing her face as her brows furrowed.

"Daddy? Why did you bring me here?" she asked quizzically, still looking around her to see if there was some hidden surprise around the corner that she had somehow missed, something that would explain why her father had brought her here.

Taking a deep breath to steel his nerves, Draco spoke. "We… We are here to see Mummy." He said, feeling his shoulders sag as he uttered the final word. The reality of the situation came crashing down, and Draco sighed.

"But… But… But what would Mummy be doing in a place like this? This is where dead people go!" she exclaimed, gesturing around her wildly as she spoke. There was no way her beautiful mummy, the one she had heard so much about, the one subject of all of daddy's stories, could be here. No way… Unless… One look from her daddy told her everything. "… Mummy… Is she… Dead?" Hermione whispered, meeting her father's gaze as he sighed, looking away from his daughter. He hoped it wouldn't crush her, destroy her from the inside until she was nothing more than a husk of what she was. Hermione, on the other hand, was taking it well. After all, death was just another world, another adventure to her. Walking up to her father, she gripped his hand comfortingly, realising he was more scared then she was. Turning towards the cemetery, she pushed the gate open and pulled her father through.

Once they were inside, Draco realised that there was no turning back. Taking the lead, he wove between grave stones; some of them battered and broken beyond repair, where as others were almost in pristine condition. Hermione just looked around, taking in everything around her without fear, without worry. In fact, it was like a big maze to her, like a test where she had to remember which grave stones they passed.

After a while, they came to one particularly clean, well kept gravestone, still glossy and the words clear for all to see. Draco knelt down in front of it, and just looked at the grave stone in silence for a while. Hermione was just reading the gravestone with interest, trying to glean as much information as she could from the sparse information on display. What stunned her the most was what the name of her mother was: Hermione. It was just like her. She read through the dates, only to find that the day Hermione died was the day she was born. Another thing they shared.

"Hermione…" The girl looked to her father, only to find that he was talking to the gravestone. "You don't know how much I've missed you. Some nights I just feel so alone, and…" he paused, swallowing as his voice cracked from emotion. He ran a hand through his hair, messing up the blonde locks even further. "God, you don't know how much I miss you." He whispered. Hermione stood in the back, realising that her father was in his own world, and probably just needed some time.

"God, look at me. I'm crying everywhere." He said, shaking his head and chuckling softly as he tried to stop the tears. "You know, having my daughter… Our daughter with me… It's both a blessing and a curse. She grows more and more like you every day, but it also reminds me more and more of you." He sniffled, and chuckled again, this time weaker and almost half-heartedly. "Oh right. Here's some tulips, just like every year. They're your favourite, and I even got them in the Gryffindor colours for you." He said, picking up the bouquet and laying it on top of the gravestone.

Hermione had been listening through the whole exchange, and put two and two together. Both a blessing and a curse, the fact that her own mother died the day she was born… It meant that she had probably died giving birth to her. Suddenly feeling immensely guilty, she walked forward slowly and picked up a tulip, selecting a red one – her favourite colour.

"Mummy… I'm sorry. I never got to meet you, but just the way that daddy talks about you means you must've been amazing. I'm sorry for killing you, and taking you away from Daddy." She said, laying the flower down below the other bunch, a singular one that meant almost more than all the others. "I wish I hadn't been born. Then you and Daddy would still be happy." She said softly, a small tear trickling down her face.

Draco looked up in shock. This kind of insight, coming from such a young girl… He smiled, despite the tears trickling down his face. She was so much like Hermione. A true Gryffindor, he could already see it. Reaching out a slender, pale hand, he patted his daughter's shoulder.

"Even though you aren't here to see me, I promise I'll look after Daddy for you!" she said, sitting back next to her father who put an arm around his daughter's shoulder. "I'll make sure that he's happy. I'll never forget you." She whispered, a small promise to herself that she would keep for her whole life.

Looking at her father, she wiped away his tears and gave him a hug. He paused, before embracing her as well, and there they sat, ready to move on and take on the world.

Together.


End file.
